1996 Intercontinental Cup
Match programme cover | |||||||
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| Date | 26 November 1996 | ||||||
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| Venue | National Stadium, Tokyo | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus) | ||||||
| Referee | Márcio Rezende de Freitas (Brazil) | ||||||
| Attendance | 48,305 | ||||||
The 1996 Intercontinental Cup was a football match between Juventus of Italy and River Plate of Argentina on 26 November 1996 at the National Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. The annual Intercontinental Cup, it was contested between the winners of the UEFA Champions League and the Copa Libertadores. Juventus were appearing in their third Intercontinental Cup. They had lost the competition in 1973 before winning the 1985 edition. River Plate were making their second appearance after their victory in 1986.
The teams had qualified for the competition by winning their continent's primary cup competition. Juventus won the 1995–96 UEFA Champions League by beating Dutch team AFC Ajax 4–2 in a penalty shoot-out after the match finished 1–1. River Plate were the 1996 Copa Libertadores champions after winning the two-legged final 2–1 against América de Cali of Colombia.
Watched by a crowd of 48,305, the first half was goalless. Juventus took the lead late in the second half when Alessandro Del Piero scored. They held this lead to win the match 1–0, securing their second Intercontinental Cup win.